- “Who Said It?” 2-6 players: Based off a tv show/movie. A quote is laid in the center of the playing area, players will have cards with the characters names from the show, and the first player to lay down the correct name wins the round. The player who gains the most cards wins.
- “Finish the Lyric” 2-6 players. Cards will be color coded by genre. Part of a lyric is placed in the center of the playing area, each player will write down the next line. Whoever gets the line correct wins the round, the player with the most correct answers wins.
- “Stars” 2-4 players. 16 stars will be placed around the table. Each round player will pick up and discard one card. Per round, the player will pick up a card with a task (ex. lay 4 spades). Whoever completes their task first takes a star. The player that collects 6 stars first wins.
- Multi-Solitaire. 2-4 players. One person lays down a card and calls whether they want it built up or down. Other players must build up or down. ex. player 1 lays down a 2 and wants to build up, player 2 will lay a 3, player 3 will lay a 4. If you don’t have the correct card on your turn, you must draw 2.
- 2 players. Each player has 6 cards in hand . They simultaneously choose one card for their opponents hand and the highest card wins the round. The player to get to “50” first wins.
- Lyrical “Cards Against Humanity” One player puts down a card that contains an existing lyric. All players put down a card that could serve as the next line. The player who laid the initial card chooses the best.
Review #1
For my website review I decided to review Dell.com. Now this website isn’t one that I typically shop on, but because I need a product that they sell, I will use it for this example.
I went to their site in search of a Canon camera battery. I have been in need of a backup for quite some time now and it would be helpful to get another one for when we go to Ireland in May.
When you first log onto the Dell website, I noticed that it is a pretty simple design. Search bar, scrolling images, and dropdown menus to take you somewhere else. It is relatively simple to find what you’re looking for. My eye doesn’t wander, and nothing distracting is happening to take me away from the task at hand. They have different categories for electronics, and after some more clicking and filtering, I am able to find the camera battery I need.
The actual page for a single item is a bit more confusing. There’s a lot of information going on on the side but I suppose this is necessary for some people. Then from there you can add it to the cart with a simple push of a button.
Overall, the site is simple, if not a bit dull. It is easy to navigate but could be difficult to find certain products just by browsing without filters, and would be faster to use the search bar. There are many features that would help someone browsing and trying to decide between one item or another. The site also has many features that helps when deciding whether to buy or not in general.
When it comes to thinking, it is a good example of not thinking too much or too less. There’s a trickle of ads and deals, making you think for a moment before moving on. For most of my time on the website I was not distracted though and could easily navigate through the Dell website.
Week 1 – Game Design
Card Game Ideas
- Mind of a Serial Killer
A murder-mystery card game that requires deduction and chance. First, you receive a character card in which determines your strategy and goal. Second, a player chooses a crime/story card. Keep your identity to yourself and complete your goal first. 3 or more players are needed. - Camp-or-Die
A game of chance and elimination. Each player is a camper and must complete activities to win. Players have to avoid elimination cards that might that might prevent them from these activities. Cards include activities, badges, accidents, deaths, and actions. 2 or more players are needed. - Carnival Recruit
It’s your first day on the job at the local carnival. As a new recruit, you must perform mediocre tasks to qualify for a better position. Compete with players to advance to a new job/ride, and who knows…maybe you could run the place. Each player starts with 5 cards and 3 tokens. Use tokens to buy tasks. Recieve tokens and a new job when you complete a task. The more difficult the task the better the job and more tokens you receive. Each round you can either buy a task, use an action, or pick up another card. Use action cards to give yourself an advantage over other players. 2 or more players are needed. - Stranded
You’re stranded on an island and can either build a shelter or build a raft. Choose wisely because both have their consequences. Each player starts with 5 cards and collects 1 card each round. The players must collect the numbered/textured card according to their chosen survival strategy and must lay them out in the right order. You must do this before dark. A timer is set for 5 mins. When the timer goes off each player receives a problem. You may lose a card, have to reset, switch seats, etc. Reset the timer and begin a new day. - Pioneer
Build your world and become a successful pioneer. Each player starts with 6 cards. According to the card, you may need to roll between a certain number or a specific number to gain money. Use the money to build structures in town. Each structure you build gives you a higher status. (I’m not sure where I want this one to go…)
Game Reviews
Star Fluxx had sci-fi themes from popular movies and tv shows. The Fluxx game was very involved and constantly changing. The game began as very difficult and complicated to understand but evolved to eventually become competitive and fast-paced. As my group played we had shifts in strategy, momentum, and rules that added a risk factor. The challenge was to complete a goal to win as the game is constantly, shifting in rules and actions.
Love Letter plays on strategy and risk as you act as a potential love interest of the princess and compete against other players to win her affection tokens. With only sixteen cards, one must deduct what cards the other players have in order to give their letters. The game seemed fast paced because it was quick to learn and there were few cards.
Hanabi is a group effort card game in which players team together to play a series of cards in a certain order to set off a firework display. This game was rather complicated because each player couldn’t see their own cards but they could see the cards of other players. We had to follow the actions available and try not to light the fuse early. The game was interesting but it did not hold my attention for too long and seemed counterproductive. The game involved memory, deduction, and group cooperation.
Site Review
The site I chose for review is Amazon.com. I chose this one because I am familiar with the site because I almost exclusively use it for my online shopping needs. After analyzing the site carefully, I think that it has great usability, which is the main point that people look for in a website. It is easy to use so it passes the first law of usability which is “don’t make me think!” I think Amazon being as big of a company that it is, almost requires their site to be as easy as possible to use because its audience is so vast. Amazon is marketing for everyone, from young adults to the elderly. Bringing packages fast and killing the inconvenience. Nowadays you can buy almost anything by just simply searching the first word and a bunch of options pop up. Now, I do not want to make it sound like Amazon is the ultimate user-friendly website. They can sometimes be confusing with the constant running adds and deals that tend to pop up from time to time. For example, Prime Day is a day that prime members get exclusive deals to products that otherwise normal users couldn’t access. This meaning that it is more of an incentive to sign up for prime membership. However, also during this time they do give-aways where you click on the items and see if you won. To find this “giveaway” page it usually pops up in the home screen. However, sometimes it does not. This makes it extremely difficult to try to find the page again. Also, another issue that I found is that Amazon has a certain features. One of which is the “your garage” page. This is where you can enter the make and model of your car and you can search for parts and accessories that match your car. This feature however is not with the other featured pages and it somewhat makes it difficult to find. I think that I am guilty of what the “don’t make me think!” book said about muddling through when you have an issue with finding something. In the last two problems I mentioned I definitely spent way too long trying to search for these features. Overall, I think that Amazon is extremely user friendly. It is accommodating for people who really want to piddle through pages for items looking for something interesting and for the people who know what their looking for and want it now.
Week 1 Ideas
- Backwards go-fish. Everyone else knows your hand. On their turn they either have to tell someone a hint, ask for a hint of their own cards, or if they know they have a match they can put it down. If they tell someone else a hint, their turn is over – do not go fish, do not put down matches. If they ask for a hint saying “do I have any 2’s?” if yes – that is it. If no, go fish. If they try to put a match down and it’s right, they get to pick up 2 more cards from the middle. If they try to put a match down and it’s wrong, they have to give the cards to the next player. Whoever has the most matches down on the table at the end wins.
- Every player is dealt a country from the “countries” desk. Then someone randomly selects a “time period” card from the Time Period deck. Next everyone gets 3 helper cards to begin with. No one else can know the country besides the owner of that card. Everyone else has to try and figure out what country everyone else has based on the type of helper cards they play for that country during the time period. The winner is whoever played the least amount of helper cards until your country was guessed. Play until everyone’s country is figured out. The player whose country is guess first gets to still play as guessers on their turn but do not get the helper cards anymore.
- Periodic table cards. To win you have to have all the semimetal cards (6). Everyone gets 6 cards to begin with. There are 118 cards all together, one for each element. This game could be played many ways. Basis of the game is to have all the matching cards of a property. The semimetals are easiest because there are only 6 of them.
- Good Cop Fake Cop. Everyone receives a card saying if they are a good cop, fake cop, witness, or random bystander who knows nothing. No one knows the rule of each player, but everyone is dealt 7 cards that have statements telling that person what to do when they play the card, either accuse someone for the crime, answer interrogation questions, etc. But with the cards that are played, if it is a ‘cop only’ card, only the real cop can play it. If they are interrogation question cards that have to be answered at the time of play everyone can play it. From the story line you must answer questions honestly. The good cop is trying to pick out the fake cop, and the witnesses and random bystanders are trying not to go to jail. If the Cop takes the wrong person to jail, he is fired and loses the game and everyone else wins. If the good cop takes the fake cop to jail then the good cop wins.
- Paleontology cards. Team work to build a dinosaur while being timed. Almost like the fireworks game, the dinosaur has to be built from the feet up or else without the body and feet the dinosaurs head will fall and break. This game will come with dinosaur plastic body parts to put together so you have to build from the bottom up. This all has to be done in a 15 minute time period.
Experimental Week 1 ideas
Card game ideas:
1.Truth or dare (could be called icebreakers). Instead of having a harsh/heavy sentence the theme will be more light and comical in order to make a group of people feel comfortable with each other faster.
2.workout cards: punishment cards where these cards tell you to perform some sort of task such as jumping jacks. For those who want to get in shape with a hint of competition.
3.shopping card game
-pull out 3 cards of items/products at random
-the person card you have determines how much money you have
-action cards (steal, bribe,store discount)
-money slips
The premise of this game will be to attain the 3 products randomly selected. It will have a “life” sort of analogy where you can gain money, lose money, or have the option to obtain the item at other costs.
4.Private College
-rich kids (nice car, no job)
-time
-time is spent between homework,working,social
-character cards have/requore so much
-major, lifestyle, organizations
Overall you are the character you are dealt. Depending on your character you will have a certain amount of money, time (because of work, social life, etc). The goal will be to get your homework done, have a social life, etc all while playing the rules of your characters life.
5.global warming
-build cities and buildings to grow but each time you do you lose
a tree card
–The mayor will decide the new layout of the city: how many stores, companies, etc. Players are responsible for building a city with resources to match the mayor’s plans. However for each new building, trees die (lose a tree card)–depending on the route you go about building. Cheap fast routes cost more trees. If you lose all of your tree cards you lose. The first one to build a city ends the game (and wins depending on their tree ratio)
Chapter 6 Response
As time continued, society began to accept that technology was capable of assisting an individual in their daily life. People could utilize the computers to write software for the engineers, and make designing quicker for the designers. Designers who focuses on usability strive to decrease the cognitive dissonance, emphasizing speed and decreases the time spent on tasks. Designers who focus on usability can create a product that is more user-friendly and the tasks that the user would need this product or feature would be able to finish their tasks quicker. Not only would decreasing the time spent on the task, if the product is easier to use, the user would not experience as much technical difficulties when using it. By focusing on usability, the designer will minimize the number of errors a user might have while using a complicated system. Usability has become a huge solution to any given design problem; however, there is more design than usability. There is more value a designer can bring than making an artifact easier to use. A designer could also form an active judgement and criticism within the context of a specific design problem. In the book, they gave an example of a phone. So, if a phone is designed to make phone calls, and a designer decides to make the phone more of a social media based phone, then the phone’s main purpose goes away. It is crazy how much a simple design can change the overall purpose of an object. If you change a single thing, the designer has affected the culture dramatically, essentially inverting the established norm and by making a phone more public, communal, and social device.
Design serves as a cultural backdrop for our world. When a designer decides to slightly change an artifact, a user would not notice it; however, that is because these decisions have a delayed impact as they reach the marketplace. A designer can make a variety of design decisions when they create a product, but these products would be delayed as the physical or digital product would go through a variety of completion gates. Not only that, the product would go through a mass production to propagate throughout the world. As a designer, it is important that the product is “finished” before sending out the final prototype because what if there are some other changes that you want to make but you must go over the process again to send a massive amount of information throughout the world. When the products are sent out, consumers are oblivious, and they rarely have the time or awareness to understand how complicated product is affecting their life. It is very important to make the product easy to use. Simplicity is best. It is important to understand your user when creating your product because it could help you in the long run. If you understand your consumers, you would be able to create a product that they would want to utilize. A product is one of thousands or millions of things that can affect a person’s behavior and a single product can apply to an individual’s social norms, genetic predispositions, and various external influences in shaping how someone act, behave, and make decisions.
Chapter 6 Response
Interaction designers have contributed the the shift in cultural norms. The first norm that changed was the thought that technology was fragile. Through developments with technology and interaction design, everyday users have the ability to be a bit more lax with their skills and still end up getting done what they need to with minimal error. The second norm was that only engineers could use computers and softwares alike. Computers and technology have become apart of mundane life. Anyone can have access to a computer or a smart device with infinite possibilities and activities.
A designer must make decisions about the technology they are working on so that it makes things feel like common sense to the user. This was something that really stuck out to me from this chapter. At first mention of this, I thought that it was obvious: it’s common sense but it can’t be that hard. However, common sense is not all that common, especially when there are so many options and pathways to take in technology and design. The book mentions a designers thinking of adding a “Mention This Person in a Tweet” button when a user would click on someone in their contact list. To me, that sounds ridiculous. Why would I go to my Phone’s contacts to tweet someone? Yet, from a designer’s perspective, this is a possibility so why not explore it?
Another thing that this chapter points out is how design could negatively affect society/behavior. They ask, “Consider a day without digital technology. Can you make it through one day–still completing your major goals for the day–without utilizing digital technology?” (p. 93). This really struck me because I think (I know) my answer would be a strong and resounding “NO”. Everything I do revolves around technology. If I don’t have wifi, I can forget about any assignments for my classes or talking to any of my friends or family. Stay updated with the news? Nope, no chance. It’s kind of terrifying, but when the technology is there and working properly, it’s amazing and makes my day run so smoothly.
This chapter was interesting because it really made me think about the possible positive and negative effects of design and technology. The ways that technology have already changed the way that people learn and think and interact with other people and things around the is incredible. The way that my grandmother learned is completely different from how I learn now. Technology does not scare the newer generations. It will be interesting to see how technology and design will continue to change and shape society and our norms.
Chapter 6 response
I found a lot of chapter 6 to be an interesting read. Around page 86, the author writes about how the designer’s personal design philosophy begins to compete against the traditions and norms of usability and even challenges the tendency towards common sense. Designers make conscious decisions to go against the norms. As a graphic designer, I can compare this to working on a grid with a flow line and deciding to break the grid for part of the layout. This does one of two things: it can either make your layout, or product in the case of interaction design, stand out or it goes horribly and viewers don’t like it. Designers can spend years learning about the importance of things like color, balance, and so on but these poetics of art can clash with the fundamental need for usability.
The author mentions that people often construct their place in the world through the products they buy, and if your product can’t even be used properly due to the importance placed on artistic qualities rather than usability, then what was the purpose?
The part in this chapter that I liked the most and admittedly made me excited was on page 87. The page starts with a quote that reads “Design serves as a cultural backdrop for our world. A designer makes subtle decisions that individually seem insignificant, yet each decision is amplified in scope as they are released into society en masse.” There are so many times that I sit around people studying nursing, biology, and engineering and feel like I’m selfish for choosing a career that doesn’t exactly help people the way nursing would. I feel like graphic design just doesn’t have the same impact on people’s lives. And this just isn’t true. Depending on what I do with my career, I do have the chance to make some change. My individual projects may seem insignificant, but over time I’m helping shape a culture. And people are so happy about their culture, it’s something that they hold dear and take everywhere with them. So I’m so happy that this book went over something that I’m sure bothers other designers as well. It shows just how important design is.
TOID: Ch. 6 Response
Upon reading chapter 6, I was intrigued by the concept of designed and conceptual norms. As stated in the book, “a norm is an accepted behavioral pattern that’s learned and that helps within a specific culture or group.” To some people, having an all touch screen phone may be the norm whereas some may think phones with keyboards are. As technology advances, these norms continue to change at an extremely alarming rate. Designers are responsible for making subtle or dramatic changes designs that have the power to alter the way we use technology for years and years to come; all while keeping in mind usability, functionality, and likability. In today’s society, media norms change much faster than social norms do. Years ago, I would have never imagined being able to connect speakers wirelessly to any device in my house or have a fridge that allowed me to watch the news while I eat breakfast in the morning. Slowly yet surely, these things are becoming norms; in the near future, they’ll be nothing but old news. In the large scheme of things, it’s important to understand how crucial the role of the designer is when creating new media. Their ideas build our future and without them, we’d still be using cave drawings and sending carrier pigeons.
Thoughts on Chapter 6
I found several things about chapter six interesting, including how design is currently a “cultural backdrop” for our world. A designer chooses subtle decisions that can be seen as insignificant, but then can be amplified when sent out into society. Because of the time gap in-between designing a product, creating the physical version and mass producing, and sending out the product to users, it becomes difficult to map out a cultural shift to a specific design choice. I found the idea of amplification of a design decision interesting, because mass production causes identical objects to be sent out, the designers voice is then “multiplied.” The chapter also touched on invisible manifestation, and how there can be consequences to the things we use even though the changes in our lives are so subtle we don’t notice. (pg. 87)
I also agree that technology can be a positive force of change, but that potential has not been reached fully. The book talks about how even though this is true, it places digitization at the heart of the discussion for the future, instead of how we use that technology to create positive change and interactions. The book says “The digital age cannot be empowering without empowering someone.” The book goes on to give some specifics on this, including how cell phones have not helped us be more empathetic but have caused accidents, the internet hasn’t helped tensions with hate speech and talks of politics and religion, and it has not helped feed the hungry. But to solve these problems we have to understand what we’re trying to do with design and technology and design simply from there.( pg. 92)
The chapter also goes into a bit more detail on the negative impacts of technology in our own lives. I did not realize at first how much I look up things on google. Any question I need answered or word I don’t understand, I google. The book says this increased dependency on technology creates huge possibility, but also can lead to personal intellectual regression. Since most of us don’t even notice how present this is in our lives, as it slowly crept in on us, it affects a large number of people in an immediate fashion. This may be a long term road to disaster of not knowing things on our own when technology fails. (pg. 93)
Movie Response
Movie Response
Two big points really stuck out to me from the in-class movie: (1) Good design will make the object make sense and (2) good design is as little design as possible. When these points were presented, they went on to talk about Apple and how innovative yet intuitive their products are. Apple products are made to be so user friendly that there is no question on why something is designed the way that it is. The functions and designs of Apple products are received in a way that makes sense. “Makes sense” meaning that it is as if there is no other way the technology could have been designed; it is made that way because of course it was made that way! Why would it be any other way? This way just makes sense.
The movie went on to interview a designer from Apple. He explained how they tried to design functions on the MacBook Pro to be subtle signals to the user (blinking light on the front that lets the user know that the device is on) but that when the device is being used and there is no use for that function, it fades away as if it was never there. Another function that the MacBook Pro has is the battery life bar on the left side. There is a button to press that will show the user the battery life of the laptop without having to actually open the laptop. I think that features like this are important, especially for aesthetics purposes; small features that offer support but don’t overwhelm the design. After having that pointed out to me in the movie, it really started to make sense of all other Apple products and the way we interact with them.
I think that these two points are the biggest takeaways for me and my major/minor. It will be important for me to keep users and consumers in mind when working in advertising and/or web design. Making things almost painfully obvious for the user can only be a beneficial thing. You never want to make your users/consumers feel stupid, so making things make sense is the best way to avoid that issue.
Chapter 3,4, & 5
What information can ethnographic tools give you to improve the interactivity of an online banking website?
Ethnographic tools are used to construct visualizations between individual components to help understand relationships. These tools, such as reading ecosystem diagrams, journey maps, and concept maps. These tools can help map out exactly how a user will interact with the product. In online banking, using these diagrams can create an overall better understanding of the system in place. If you have multiple ways to reach something, how are those connected? Is that relationship immediately apparent? These tools help the designers focus on what works, what doesn’t, and can identify problems that were not apparent.
At what point is a design finished? What makes it a success? What is its purpose?
A design is finished when the user has had all of their needs met from the design, or when the designer decides the work is done. This is definitely subjective though, so it’s up to who is making and using the design.
Some people may believe the amount of money they make is what allows them to call it successful, while someone effectively making a solution to a problem could be a successful design to someone else.
The purpose of the design depends on the designer/user and how they individually create and use the product. If a designer creates something for a specific purpose, the user has the freedom to use the product for another purpose, even though that is not what it was intended for.
Identify a product family you use regularly (can be anything from technology to consumables except for coffee). How has its branding effected your use, relationship and experience with the product?
I used to be a Nikon lover and after several camera fails, I decided to switch to Canon. When I first came here I was disappointed that it was a Canon school, but after talking to many of my peers my preference changed. I see the brand as being “better than Nikon,” even though I have nothing except my personal preference to back up that statement. From my failures with the quality and lifetime of Nikon’s products, Canon just seemed the better and more reliable company. I see them as more high-end in branding now because of my experiences.
Thoughts on Interaction Design: Chapters 3, 4, & 5
What information can ethnographic tools give you to improve the interactivity of an online banking website? (pp. 48-54)
- Ethnography can teach designers about what users will want and need. Ethnography will help predict how users will interact with a design. Study groups/user testing could show us that a user is concerned with the security of their online banking website/app. They could express that they would be comfortable if it looked a certain way or had extra checkpoints (like security questions or verification of their password).
At what point is a design finished? What makes it a success? What is its purpose? (pp. 54-62)
- A design is finished when the function of the design doesn’t seem like it was designed at all. The way a design functions and the way someone interacts with the design should feel intuitive and instinctual as if it has to be designed that way. The design should serve its purpose completely and leave the user without questions of how to use the technology.
- A design should be balanced between aesthetics and user engagement/useage.
- A design should serve its purpose easily and with little to no question/complication.
Identify a product family you use regularly (can be anything from technology to consumables except for coffee). How has its branding affected your use, relationship and experience with the product? (pp. 78-84)
- Apple: I have an iPhone, which I stay up to date on all of the new gadgets and updates. I have a Macbook Pro that I use everyday and connect it to my iPhone. I have an iPad to stay connected in more portable situations, but when I don’t need my phone or my laptop. Everything that I purchase, as far as technology goes, is Apple friendly. I will not buy a product that is not compatible with all of my devices or if the product will harm any of my devices (like some charging cables from outside sources).
- Apple’s brand is all about being innovative, but completely intuitive and user friendly. Apple’s tagline is “Think Different”, which speaks a lot about the brand and how they want to be viewed.
- Apple is not just a product, it’s a lifestyle. Everything that I do revolved around how I use one of my Apple products. All of my assignments are done on a Mac. All of my communication-other than in person- is done on an iPhone or Mac. Everything is connected to each other in iCloud. Everything I do (sadly, probably) revolves around Apple technology.
Thoughts on Interaction Design 3, 4, 5
What information can ethnographic tools give you to improve the interactivity of an online banking website?
Ethnographic tools provide information like the frequency of use, communication, and usability. This can be helpful for a designer of a banking website by giving the designer information about the most used information on a website, such as transaction history, and making it more readily available for the users. Banking websites tend to be confusing, so these tools would help a lot in minimizing the confusion and giving users a good experience on the website.
At what point is a design finished? What makes it a success? What is its purpose?
One of the most alarming things I learned freshman year is that a design is never truly done. A design can always be improved upon, there’s no such thing as perfection in the design world. It’s purpose is to be desirable (beautiful, elegant, and appropriate,) and user centered. A design can be considered successful when it properly serves its purpose and enhances the user experience, meaning it should improve all aspects of human life.
Identify a product family you use regularly (can be anything from technology to consumables except for coffee). How has its branding affected your use, relationship and experience with the product?
I really like Canada Dry Ginger Ale. To almost an excessive, obsessive amount because it’s pretty much all I drink. Strangely enough, I initially started drinking it because my mom said ginger ale is good to drink when you’re sick and (although it may have been placebo) I always felt much better after drinking it. Then I just grew to enjoy the taste and I liked it a lot. Once I got big into design I started to pay careful attention to the packaging, which I find the graphics are pretty and very much my style – a lot of greens, bubbles being used for movement, and vines. Their website is nice as well, though I’m not sure how many people think to visit a website for a soft drink, I sure haven’t until now. I occasionally see a commercial and those are usually funny and capture people’s attention. I feel as though their branding is good, although it hasn’t really affected my use or relationship with the product because I’ve been obsessed with it since I was a little kid and will continue to be obsessed regardless of their branding decisions. One thing that is interesting is that my reason for drinking it, being sick, is never mentioned in any of their advertisements. I don’t know if that would help them, but it’s something!